LAD #37

Summary of Brown v Board of Education

Linda Brown was an elementary school girl who was forced to walk a mile each day through a dangerous railroad area in order to get to her black school. There was a white school that was much closed, but due to segregation, the white school refused to accept her. Brown's family along with the NAACP took the case to court. Their case was joined with similar ones from many other states. They argued that separate schools for black children was detrimental to their education as it made it seem they were inferior to whites.  However, in Plessy v Ferguson, it was ruled that separate facilities were fine as long as they were equal. The Brown's argued that the schools were not as equal as they were intended to be. On the other side, the Board of Education claimed the segregation would prepare children for the segregation they would face in the real world as adults. The case was appealed to the Supreme Court where it was ruled that segregation of schools should not be allowed. This overturned the precedent of Plessy v. Ferguson and was a big step toward gaining more equality. There was still a monumental amount of work to do to gain equality.

LAD #36

Summary of the Truman Doctrine 

Greece faced complete destruction due to WWII and the lasting effects of German control. They lacked food, roads, railroads, ports, villages were destroyed and there was a crushing inflation. Truman believed the American government needed to step in and help Greece. The most immediate help the U.S. could provide was funds to rebuild, Truman proposed this to Congress. He stressed that the U.S. needed to help out because otherwise Democratic Greece would fall to Communism. He believed if Greece, and other countries in a similar position, weren't helped, they would succumb to Communism and eventually America would too. The U.S. was the only country with the ability to help at the moment due to the damages and debts from the war. On top of that, Truman asked Congress to assist Turkey in the same way. Turkey was also at risk for Communism and Truman wanted to maintain order in Eastern Europe. If the U.S. didn't step in, Greece and Turkey would face even worse circumstances and more problems. Truman urged Congress to help out and send money and supplies over to Greece and Turkey to help rebuild and fight off Communism.

                  

LAD #35

Summary of FDR's Executive Order #9066

Following Pearl Harbor and the U.S. entrance into WWII, FDR found it necessary to be cautious when dealing with the Japanese. This concern was highest with the American-Japanese because they were within the country and could be spying or working secretly for Japan. This was a security threat as important information could be leaked to Japan and be used to attack the U.S. In order to combat this threat, FDR prepared his executive order #9066. This order allowed for the creation of military areas to hold Japanese families. These areas would be allowed to figure out transportation, food, shelter, and accommodations for the families and were allowed to take any necessary measures to ensure safety to the country. This paranoia resulted in many Japanese-American families being forced into these camps where they lost their belongings and were isolated from civilization and the outside world.

LAD #34

Summary of FDR's Declaration of War

President Roosevelt addressed Congress the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941. He informed Congress that as of the attack the U.S. and Japan were still in conversation with each other. It was not expected that Japan would attack. He asked Congress to take into consideration the seriousness of this attack. He informed them that Japan had attacked several other places in the Pacific as well and that they showed no sign of stopping.With no hope of a peace treaty, FDR asked Congress for a declaration of war. He had confidence in the American people that they would join together and protect the nation. With that, on behalf of the people FDR stated that the U.S. had to go to war which meant entering WWII.

LAD #33

Summary of FDR's First Inaugural Address

Franklin D. Roosevelt gave his first inaugural address on March 4th, 1933. In his address, he informed the people not only of the state of the nation, but of the plans he has a president. He recognized that the nation was facing a mountain of problems and that the country needed help. But he reassured the people that things would get better with his famous line "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." With the help of the people, he would revive the country and get it to flourish again. Roosevelt knew that if Americans put their mind to it they could accomplish whatever they wanted. He went on to mention some of the issues such as, shrunken values, raising taxes, the loss of ability to pay, the serious curtailment of income of the government, the means of exchange being frozen in the currents of trade, the withering of industrial enterprise, farmers finding no markets for their produce, and the savings of many years in thousands of families being gone. He saw the economic struggles of the people and made it his goal to get the people back to work and employed. He suggested projects that would give people jobs while building up the country. In addition he suggested redistributing land so it was even and so the cities' production could reach its maximum levels. He stressed the importance of watching over banks and creating sound currency. He wants to focus on domestic issues first but maintain good foreign relations by being a "good neighbor" to other nations. Finally, FDR states that the nation is facing a lot of struggles and will have to work hard to get back to prosperity but with the hard work of the people the nation will become strong and be able to benefit the people again

                       

LAD #32

Summary of the Kellogg-Briand Peace Pact

 The Kellogg-Briand Peace Pact was signed in Paris in 1928 and ratified by several countries, including the U.S., in 1929. It was created following the Great War as a means to outlaw any future wars between countries. The United States, Australia, Dominion of Canada, Czechoslovkia, Germany, Great Britain, India, Irish Free State, Italy, New Zealand, Union of South Africa, Poland, Belgium, France, and Japan all signed the pact and agreed not to go to war with each other. Supposedly if the nations had stuck to the agreement, then major world wars would never occur again. The main goal being to get rid of war as a means to solve disputes and to create new, more peaceful, ways to solve issues between nations. Every nation that signed had their government agree to avoid war at all costs. Lastly, the pact was left open in hopes that more and more countries would be persuaded into joining the peace agreement.

                                         

LAD #31

Summary of Wilson's Fourteen Points

At the close of the Great War, President Wilson wrote his 14 points in hopes of achieving peace at Versailles. He made his points very lenient because he knew that forgiveness and aid to all would be the best way to secure peace. However, the other Ally nations did not accept his plan because they wanted revenge, especially on Germany. Wilson's Fourteen points included: open peace and discussions, freedom of the seas, removal of economic barriers, lowering of national armaments, adjustment of colonial claims, evacuation of Russia, evacuation of Belgium, freedom and restoration of parts of France, readjustment of land in Italy, freedom for autonomous development for Austria-Hungary, Rumania, Serbia, and Montenegro should be free and independent politically and economically, Turkey should be sovereign and the Dardanelles open to all, Poland should be independent, and, lastly, a League of Nations should be formed. Sadly, his plans did not go well with the nations of Europe and he was forced to make a lot of compromises and Germany suffered terribly under the Treaty of Versailles.